Arthur
Ignatius Conan Doyle, born in 1859, was the son of Charles Doyle from a
prosperous Irish-Catholic family living in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sir
Doyle is famous for his works on the detective Sherlock Holmes. He had
a fairly unhappy childhood as a result of his boarding school
experiences in England. Educational facilities in those times were very
strict and unfriendly by modern standards.
Whilst at boarding school he built up a reputation for storytelling and
captivated the audience with his imagination.
Surprisingly,
Arthur did not follow family tradition in the arts and instead studied
to become a medical surgeon. After qualifying he took a position as a
medical officer on a ship plying the route from Liverpool to West
Africa. He went on to open is own medical practice in Portsmouth.
Despite
trying to establish himself in his profession, he managed to devote
time to his passion for writing. Everything was to change in 1886 when
his genius was recognised in the novel named 'A Tangled Skein'.
Published later under the title 'A Study in Scarlet', the legend of
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson was born.
There is an Official web site for the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary
Estate which can be found here:
